This invention relates to an intake module assembly for a vehicle engine that forms a complete air path from an air filter to an engine cylinder head within a two-piece shell structure.
Air intake or induction systems are used to conduct air to internal combustion engines. The use of air induction systems has resulted in the need for additional vehicle system components to compensate for certain undesirable side effects generated by the connection of air induction components to the vehicle engine. For example, engine noise is propagated back through the air induction components, which is undesirable. To address this problem, noise attenuation components, such as resonators, have been utilized to reduce these noises.
Another undesirable side effect introduced by air induction components, is that the air that is drawn into the air induction system includes dust, dirt, and other particulate contaminants. These contaminants can clog the engine resulting in poor performance. Air cleaners with filters are used to remove these contaminants from the airflow prior to the air being drawn into the engine.
Further, other components, such as an intake manifold, air duct hoses, throttle components, etc., must also be incorporated into the induction system to achieve proper engine control and function. These components are traditionally separately formed and attached to each other prior to being attached to a vehicle engine, or certain induction components are first mounted to a vehicle engine with additional components being subsequently attached either to the engine or other induction components as required.
The use of these multiple induction components increases material and manufacturing costs. Further, the assembly of the additional components into the air induction system and/or onto the vehicle engine is time consuming and labor intensive. Thus, it is the object of the present invention to provide a simplified intake module assembly that reduces the overall number of required components, and which can be easily assembled, as well as overcoming the other above-mentioned deficiencies with the prior art.